Mini Review Monday: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

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It’s time for another edition of Frodo’s Hobbit Sized Reviews on Mini Review Monday! Short and sweet just like 2nd breakfast!

I wanted to like this book so much. Cool mind powers in a ninja/forced boarding school/asylum-like setting, a quirky MC and her blind sister who has a story just as interesting, all wrapped up in deceit and mystery. How could this possibly go wrong?

It is pretty simple. Take the story and all of its potential, jumble it up by bouncing back and forth between different times in the past and the present while also changing POV every so often, none of which has any regularity to it. Then make the MC try to act tough and pull off that persona when in reality she just whines and complains constantly. Follow it up with all of the potentially cool action scenes being messed up by mixing real-time action with a weird inner monologue that ruins any possible fluidity. Finally, make the romantic whatever-the-heck-that-was forced and awkward and the rest of the cast be bland and have no backstory to speak of.

That right there is what will result in a DNF for me. I made it through about 150 pages which is over halfway before giving up, refusing to read 100 more. Maybe my brain just wasn’t ready for all of the “mind games” that were going on, but it never felt cohesive or smooth and just no. Not for me. Plenty of people did enjoy this one, so I’m not going to say DO NOT READ or anything so drastic, but I certainly won’t recommend it. Blah. Thanks as always for reading!

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My Rating System

5 Smiling Frodos - I LOVED the book! This is one of my absolute favorites and I will reread it countless times. Recommended for anyone, a must read!

4 Smiling Frodos - A very good read. It had some very minor flaws that kept it from being a favorite but I definitely enjoyed it and will probably reread it when I get the chance. Recommended for anyone.

3 Smiling Frodos - A good book. There are notable flaws in one (or more) of the major categories (Plot/Characters/World Building/Romance/Writing Style) but it isn't enough to stop the book from being enjoyable. 3 is a POSITIVE rating on this blog! Recommended for fans of the book's genre/book's author.

2 Smiling Frodos - A decent book. There are notable flaws in multiple major categories. Too many issues to be a reread. If I rate it a 2 I am not unhappy I read it but I don't recommend the book. Read only if you LOVE the author/series.

1 Smiling Frodo - I'm not a fan. Major issues across the board. Bad flow and feel, major category issues (usually at least 3/5), didn't like the writing and/or the choices the author made. Books receiving a 1 I barely made myself finish, skip it.